Low power integrated circuit to analyze a digitized audio stream

ABSTRACT

Methods, devices, and systems for processing audio information are disclosed. An exemplary method includes receiving an audio stream. The audio stream may be monitored by a low power integrated circuit. The audio stream may be digitized by the low power integrated circuit. The digitized audio stream may be stored in a memory, wherein storing the digitized audio stream comprises replacing a prior digitized audio stream stored in the memory with the digitized audio stream. The low power integrated circuit may analyze the stored digitized audio stream for recognition of a keyword. The low power integrated circuit may induce a processor to enter an increased power usage state upon recognition of the keyword within the stored digitized audio stream. The stored digitized audio stream may be transmitted to a server for processing. A response received from the server based on the processed audio stream may be rendered.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/453,779, filed on Jun. 26, 2019, entitled “LOW POWERINTEGRATED CIRCUIT TO ANALYZE A DIGITIZED AUDIO STREAM”, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/400,817, filed onJan. 6, 2017, U.S. Pat. No. 10,381,007, issued Aug. 13, 2019 andentitled “LOW POWER INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TO ANALYZE A DIGITIZED AUDIOSTREAM”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/363,783, filed on Oct. 21, 2014, U.S. Pat. No. 9,564,131, issued Feb.7, 2017 and entitled “LOW POWER INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TO ANALYZE ADIGITIZED AUDIO STREAM”, which is a U.S. National Phase Application ofPCT/US2011/063804, filed Dec. 7, 2011, entitled “LOW POWER INTEGRATEDCIRCUIT TO ANALYZE A DIGITIZED AUDIO STREAM”, all of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computing devices have gained in sophistication to users by processingaudio instructions and providing responses. Users can recite audioinstructions which may be used to control these computing devices. Forexample, users can speak to the computing devices to provideinformation, such as instructions to provide directions to a particularlocation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, like numerals refer to like components orblocks. The following detailed description references the drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computing device including a lowpower integrated circuit to analyze an audio stream and a processor toanalyze a digitized audio stream in response to detection of a keywordby the integrated circuit;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example low power integrated circuit foranalyzing an audio stream and transmitting a signal to a processor toincrease power when a keyword is detected in the audio stream;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example computing device to analyze adigitized audio stream and a server in communication with the computingdevice to analyze a text stream generated from the digitized audiostream;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method performed on a computingdevice for receiving an audio stream and determining a response; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method performed on a computingdevice to compress a digitized audio stream and render a response.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In audio information processing, a user typically activates theapplication to process audio by pressing a button and/or recitinginstructions. Once launching the audio processing application, the useradditionally needs to recite explicit instructions they would desire acomputing device to perform. Thus, processing speech instructions from auser can be time consuming and repetitive. In addition, continuouslymonitoring for instructions from the user consumes much power, drainingthe battery.

To address these issues, example embodiments disclosed herein use a lowpower integrated circuit to continuously monitor for occurrence of akeyword in an audio stream (e.g., the user's speech), while relying on aprocessor for more thorough analysis of the user's speech. For example,various examples disclosed herein provide for receiving an audio streamin a low power integrated circuit, digitizing the audio stream, andanalyzing the digitized audio stream to recognize a keyword. Oncerecognizing the keyword within the digitized audio stream, theintegrated circuit sends a signal to the processor to increase power.Once increasing power to the processor, the digitized audio stream isretrieved to determine a response. This decreases the amount of timeconsumed for the user to launch the specific audio processingapplication and prevents repetition of the user's speech. Determiningthe response from the retrieved audio stream prevents the user fromproviding additional explicit instructions for the computing device toperform the speech analysis.

Additionally, in the various examples disclosed herein, once increasingpower to the processor, the processor retrieves the digitized audiostream from a memory and converts the digitized audio stream to a textstream. After converting to the text stream, the processor determines aresponse based on text within the text stream. Determining the responsefrom the text stream reduces the time for the user of the computingdevice to instruct the computing device. Additionally still, theprocessor may determine the appropriate response, based on the contextof the audio stream. Further, the computing device determines whichapplication needs to execute in order to fulfill the response to theuser. Further still, by increasing power to the processor oncerecognizing the keyword within the digitized audio stream, the computingdevice consumes less power while listening for the user's speech.

In one embodiment, the computing device may also determine the responseby receiving the response from a server or from the processor. In afurther embodiment, the memory maintains the stored digitized audiostream for a predetermined period of time. In this embodiment, theprocessor can retrieve the digitized audio stream in time increments.For example, the processor may retrieve the complete digitized audiostream or may retrieve a shorter time interval of the digitized audiostream. The retrieval of the digitized audio stream allows the processorto analyze the context of the audio stream to determine the appropriateresponse.

In this manner, example embodiments disclosed herein save a user time bypreventing repetitive audio instructions to a computing device since thecomputing device determines an appropriate response based on the contextof the audio stream. Further, the computing device consumes less powerwhile receiving and processing audio streams.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an examplecomputing device 100 including a low power integrated circuit 104 forreceiving an audio stream 102 and a digitize module 106 to digitize theaudio stream to provide the digitized audio stream 114 to a memory 1 12.Further, the low power integrated circuit 104 includes a compare tokeyword module 108 to compare the digitized audio stream 1 14 to akeyword and, based on the recognition of the keyword, transmit a signal1 16 to a processor 118 to increase power 122. Further, still, theprocessor includes an analyze module 120 to analyze the digitized audiostream 114. Embodiments of the computing device 100 include a clientdevice, personal computer, desktop computer, laptop, a mobile device, orother computing device suitable to include components 04, 112, and 118.

The audio stream 102 is received by the computing device 100,specifically, the low power integrated circuit 104. The audio stream 102is an input analog signal that is digitized 106 to provide the digitizedaudio stream 1 14. Embodiments of the audio stream 102 include speechfrom a user or audio from another computing device. For example, theremay be several computing devices 300 receiving audio streams 102, whichmay be confusing. Thus, the computing devices may designate one deviceas a central point to receive the audio stream 102. In this embodiment,the low power integrated circuit 104 operates as part of an ad-hocnetwork that may be a central unit of one or more computing devices.

For example, the user may discuss with another person the shortest routefrom New York to Los Angeles, Calif. In this example, the audio streamwould be the discussion of the shortest route from New York to LosAngeles. In a further embodiment, the audio stream 102 may include audiofor a predetermined period of time. For example, the audio stream 102may include a few seconds or minutes when received by the low powerintegrated circuit 104. In this example, the low power integratedcircuit 104 may distinguish the audio stream 102 from other audiostreams 102.

The low power integrated circuit 104 includes the module 106 to digitizethe audio stream 102 and module 108 to compare the digitized audiostream 114 to the keyword. The low power integrated circuit 104 is anelectronic circuit with patterned trace elements on the surface of amaterial that form interconnections between other electronic components.For example, the low power integrated circuit 104 forms connectionsbetween the processor 118 and the memory 1 12. Embodiments of the lowpower integrated circuit 104 include a microchip, chipset, electroniccircuit, chip, microprocessor, semiconductor, microcontroller, or otherelectronic circuit capable of receiving audio stream 102 andtransmitting signal 116. The low power integrated circuit 104 maycontinuously monitor the audio stream 102, utilize digitize module 106to digitize the audio stream, and store the digitized audio stream atthe memory 1 12. As such, further embodiments of the low powerintegrated circuit 104 include a transmitter, receiver, microphone, orother suitable component to receive the audio stream 102.

The audio stream is digitized at module 106 to provide the digitizedaudio stream 114. The digitize module 106 converts the audio stream to adiscrete time signal representation. Embodiments of the digitize module106 include an analog to digital converter (ADC), digital conversiondevice, instruction, firmware and/or software operating in conjunctionwith low power integrated circuit 104. For example, the digitize module106 may include an electronic device to convert an input analog voltageto a digital number proportional to the magnitude of the analog signal.

Once the audio stream 102 is digitized at module 106, it is compared tothe keyword at module 108. The audio stream 102 and at module 108, it iscompared against the keyword which operates as an indication to signal 116 the processor 118 to increase power 122 and obtain the digitizedaudio stream 1 14 to analyze at module 120. Embodiments of 108 includean instruction, process, operation, logic, algorithm, technique, logicalfunction, firmware and/or software. Once the keyword is recognized, thelow power integrated circuit 104 transmits the signal 116 to increasepower 122 to the processor 1 18.

Embodiments of the keyword include a digital signal, analog signal,pattern, database, commands, directions, instructions, or otherrepresentation to compare at module 108. For example, the user of acomputing device may discuss the difference between a shrimp and prawnwith a friend and subsequently desire to perform a web search toidentify the answer. As such, the user may state the predeterminedkeyword to trigger recognition of the keyword by compare to keywordmodule 108 and subsequent analysis of the previous discussion by analyzemodule 120.

The keyword may include, for example, a phrase, a single keyword, or asingle keyword that is private to the user of the computing device. Inkeeping with the previous example, the keyword may be the phrase,“Computer, what do you think?”. In this example, the phrase causes thelow power integrated circuit 104 to send the signal 116 to the processor1 18 to obtain the digitized audio stream 1 14 which may include theaudio before or after the phrase. Thus, the user does not need to repeatthe instructions since the processor 118 analyzes the digitized audiostream 1 14 to determine the context of the audio stream 102 for anappropriate response. Yet, in a further example, the single keyword, mayinclude “Shazam.” Thus, as a specific example, when the user speaks theword “Shazam,” circuit 104 may detect the keyword and transmit thesignal 116 to instruct the processor 1 18 to obtain the digitized audiostream 1 14 and convert the stream to a text stream. Supposing the textstream is an instruction to compose a text message to the user's mother,the appropriate response would be to compose the text message. Thus, asdescribed above, using the predetermined keyword(s), the low powerintegrated circuit 104 recognizes when the user of the computing deviceneeds to complete a further response, such as directions or perform aweb search.

In a further embodiment of module 108, when no keyword is recognizedwithin the digitized audio stream 114, the low power integrated circuit104 continues monitoring for another audio stream 102 which is digitizedat module 106 and stored in the memory 112. In yet a further embodiment,the low power integrated circuit 104 compresses the digitized audiostream 114 and this compressed digitized audio stream is used torecognize the keyword by comparing it to the keyword at module 108.

The memory 112 stores and/or maintains the digitized audio stream 114.Embodiments of the memory 112 may include a memory buffer, cache,non-volatile memory, volatile memory, random access memory (RAM), anElectrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), storagedrive, a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CDDROM), or other memory capableof storing and/or maintaining the digitized audio stream 1 14.

The digitized audio stream 114 is stored in the memory 1 12. Embodimentsmay include the low power integrated circuit 104 compressing the audiostream 102 after the digitization module 106 to obtain a compresseddigitized audio stream prior to placement in the memory 112. AlthoughFIG. 1 depicts the digitized audio stream 1 14 stored in the memory 112,the digitized audio stream may also be stored in a memory on the lowpower integrated circuit 104. In a further embodiment, digitized audiostream 114 includes a predetermined amount of time of an audio stream102. In this embodiment, once the audio stream 102 is received for apredetermined period of time, such as a few seconds or minutes, thispredetermined period of time of the audio stream 102 is digitized andstored in the memory 1 12 for the processor 118 to obtain and/orretrieve. Further in this embodiment, when another audio stream 102 isreceived by the low power integrated circuit 104 and digitized, theprior digitized audio stream in the memory is replaced with the morecurrent digitized audio stream 1 14. Thus, the processor 1 18 obtainsand/or retrieves the most current audio stream 102. In this embodiment,the memory operates as a first-in-first-out buffer to provide the mostcurrent audio stream 102.

The signal 116 is transmitted from the low power integrated circuit 104to the processor 118 upon recognition of the keyword within thedigitized audio stream 1 14. The signal 116 instructs the processor 118to increase power 122 and analyze the digitized audio stream 114 fromthe memory 1 2. Embodiments of the signal 116 include a communication,transmission, electrical signal, instruction, digital signal, analogsignal, or other type of communication to increase power 122 to theprocessor 1 18. A further embodiment of the signal 116 includes aninterrupt transmitted to the processor 118 upon recognition of thekeyword within the digitized audio stream 1 14.

The processor 1 18 receives the signal 116 to increase power 122 andobtains the digitized audio stream 114 to analyze at module 120.Embodiments of the processor 118 may include a central processing unit(CPU), visual processing unit (VPU), microprocessor, graphics processingunit (GPU), or other programmable device suitable to analyze 120 thedigitized audio stream 1 4.

Once the processor 118 obtains the digitized audio stream 1 14 from thememory 112, the processor analyzes the digitized audio stream 114 atmodule 120. Embodiments of the analyze module 120 include aninstruction, process, operation, logic, algorithm, technique, logicalfunction, firmware and/or software the processor 1 8 may fetch, decode,and/or execute. Additional embodiments of module 120 include convertingthe digitized audio stream 1 14 to a text stream to determine anappropriate response based on the context of the audio stream 102.Further embodiments of module 120 include determining a response torender to the user of the computing device 100 as will be seen in laterfigures.

The power 122 supplies electrical energy in the form of electricalpotential to the processor 118. Specifically, the power 122 increaseselectrical energy to the processor 118 once receiving the signal 116from the low power integrated circuit 104. Increasing the power 122 tothe processor 118 wakes or triggers the processor 1 18 to obtain thedigitized audio stream 114. Embodiments of the power 122 include a powersupply, power management device, battery, energy storage,electromechanical system, solar power, power plug, or other devicecapable of delivering power 122 to the processor 118. In a furtherembodiment, power 122 supplies the electrical energy to the computingdevice 100.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , is a block diagram of an example low powerintegrated circuit 204 for analyzing an audio stream 202 andtransmitting a signal 216 to a processor to increase power when akeyword is detected in the audio stream 202. The low power integratedcircuit 204 includes circuitry 210 to produce a digitized audio stream214 using a digitize circuitry 206 and detects the keyword by a comparecircuitry 208, and upon recognition of the keyword in the digitizedaudio stream 214, transmits a signal 216.

The audio stream 202 is received by the low power integrated circuit204. The audio stream 202 may be similar in structure to audio stream102 of FIG. 1 .

The low power integrated circuit 204 includes the circuitry 210 todigitize the audio stream 202 and compare the digitized audio stream 214to a keyword. The low power integrated circuit 204 may be similar infunctionality and structure of the low power integrated circuit 104 asabove in FIG. 1 .

The circuitry 210 includes digitize circuitry 206 and compare circuitry208. Embodiments of the circuitry 210 include logic, analog circuitry,electronic circuitry, digital circuitry, or other circuitry capable ofdigitizing the audio stream 102 and comparing the digitized audio stream214 to the keyword. In further embodiments, the circuitry includes anapplication and/or firmware which may be utilized independently and/orin conjunction with the low power integrated circuit 204 to fetch,decode, and or execute circuitry 206 and 208.

The audio stream 202 is received and digitized by circuitry 206 toproduce the digitized audio stream 214. The digitize circuitry 206 is atype of conversion for the audio stream 202. Further, the digitizecircuitry 206 may be similar in functionality of the digitize module 106as described in connection with FIG. 1 .

The low power integrated circuit 204 receives the audio stream 202 todigitize at circuitry 206 and produces the digitized audio stream 214.The digitized audio stream 214 may be similar in structure to thedigitized audio stream 1 14 as described in connection with FIG. 1 .Further, although FIG. 2 depicts the digitized audio stream 214 outsideof the low power integrated circuit 204, the digitized audio stream 214may also be located within the low power integrated circuit 204. Thedigitized audio stream 214 located within the low power integratedcircuit 204 is used at circuitry 208 to compare to a keyword. In anotherembodiment, the digitized audio stream 214 is stored and/or maintainedin a memory.

The circuitry 208 included in the circuitry 210 of the low powerintegrated circuit 204, compares the digitized audio stream 214 to thekeyword. Further, 208 is used to recognize the keyword within thedigitized audio stream 214 to transmit the signal 216 to increase powerto the processor. The compare circuitry 208 may be similar infunctionality to the module 108 as described in connection with FIG. 1 .

The signal 216 instructs a device to increase power upon recognition ofthe keyword within the digitized audio stream 214 by compare circuitry208. The signal 216 may be similar in structure and functionality tosignal 1 16 of FIG. 1 . An embodiment of the signal 216 includesinstructing a processor to increase power and analyze the digitizedaudio stream 214 from the memory. In this embodiment, the signal 216instructs the processor to obtain the digitized audio stream 214 toanalyze and determine a response based on the keyword recognition atcircuitry 208.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example computing device 300 to analyzea digitized audio stream 314 and a server 326 in communication with thecomputing device 300 to analyze a text stream 324 generated from thedigitized audio stream 314. The computing device 300 includes a lowpower integrated circuit 304, a memory 312, a processor 318, an outputdevice 328, and the server 326. Specifically, FIG. 3 depicts the textstream 324 processed by the server 326 or the processor 318 to render aresponse to a user of the computing device on the output device 324. Thecomputing device 300 may be similar in structure and functionality ofthe computing device 100 as described in connection with FIG. 1 .

The audio stream 302 is received by the computing device 300,specifically, the low power integrated circuit 304. The audio stream 302may be similar in structure to the audio stream 102 and 202 in FIG. 1and FIG. 2 , respectively.

The low power integrated circuit 304 includes a digitize module 306 andan analyze module 308. In one embodiment, the low power integratedcircuit 304 includes circuitry to comprise modules 306 and 308. The lowpower integrated circuit 304 may be similar in structure andfunctionality of the low power integrated circuit 104 and 204 describedin connection with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , respectively.

The audio stream 302 once received by the computing device 300 isdigitized 306 to produce a digitized audio stream 314. The digitizemodule 306 may be similar in structure and functionality to the digitizemodule 106 and digitize circuitry 206 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 ,respectively. In a further embodiment, once the audio stream 302 isdigitized at module 306, the low power integrated circuit 304 transmitsthe digitized audio stream 314 to the memory 312 to store and/ormaintain.

Once the audio stream 314 is digitized, the low power integrated circuitanalyzes the digitized audio stream 314 at module 308. In oneembodiment, module 308 compares a keyword to the digitized audio stream1 14. In this embodiment, 308 includes the functionality of the comparemodule 108 as above in FIG. 1 .

The memory 312 stores the digitized audio stream 314 from the low powerintegrated circuit 304. In one embodiment, the memory 312 maintains thedigitized audio stream 314 received during a predetermined period oftime. For example, the audio stream 302 may be monitored for thepredetermined time of a few seconds and as such, this few seconds of theaudio stream 302 is digitized at module 306 and sent to the memory 312.In this example, the memory 312 stores the digitized audio stream 314 ofthe few seconds to be retrieved and/or obtained by the processor 318 toanalyze once receiving the signal 316. Also, in this example, whenanother audio stream 302 of a few seconds is received and digitized,this other digitized audio stream 314 replaces the prior digitized audiostream 314. This allows the memory 312 to maintain the most recent audiostream 302 for the processor 318 to obtain and/or retrieve. The memory312 may be similar in structure and functionality of the memory 1 12 asdescribed in connection with FIG. 1 .

The audio stream 302 is digitized 306 to produce the digitized audiostream 314. The digitized audio stream 314 is stored and/or maintainedin the memory 312. In an embodiment, the processor 318 obtains thedigitized audio stream 314 to analyze at module 320 once receiving thesignal 316. The digitized audio stream 314 may be similar in structureand functionality of digitized audio stream 1 14 and 214 as described,in connection with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , respectively.

The signal 316 is a transmission from the low power integrated circuit304 to the processor 316 to increase power 322. In an embodiment of thesignal 316, additionally instructs the processor 316 to obtain thedigitized audio stream 314 to analyze at module 320. The signal 316 maybe similar in structure and functionality of the signal 116 and 216 asdescribed in connection with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , respectively.

The power 322 supplies electrical energy to the processor 318 and/orcomputing device 300. The power 322 may be similar in structure andfunctionality of the power 122 as described in connection with FIG. 1 .

The processor 318 includes the analyze module 320 and text stream 324.Specifically, the processor 318 receives the signal 316 to increasepower 322. Once receiving this signal 316, the processor 318 obtains thedigitized audio stream 314 to analyze at module 320. In a furtherembodiment, the processor 318 converts the digitized audio stream 314 tothe text stream 324. In this embodiment, the text within the text stream324 dictates a response for the computing device 300. The text stream isa string of finite sequence of symbols or representations from analphabet, numbered set, or alphanumeric set. For example, the digitizedaudio stream 314 may be in a binary language, thus the processortranslates bytes of the binary representation to a word. In a furtherexample, the digitized audio stream 314 may be in a languagerepresentative of words and/or numbers, thus the processor 318translates this language into text the processor 318 comprehends.Embodiments of the response include performing a web search, dialing aphone number, opening an application, recording text, streaming media,composing a text message, listing direction, or speaking directions. Ina further embodiment, the processor 318 determines the response torender to a user of the computing device 300. The processor 318 may besimilar in structure and functionality of the processor 118 as describedin connection with FIG. 1 .

The processor 318 analyzes the stored digitized audio stream 314 atmodule 320. Embodiments of the analyze module 320 include transmittingthe digitized audio stream 314 obtained from the memory 314 to theserver 326. Other embodiments of module 320 include converting thedigitized audio stream 314 obtained from the memory 312 to the textstream 324 and transmitting the text stream 324 to the server 326. Otherembodiments of module 320 include converting the digitized audio stream314 to the text stream 324 to determine the appropriate response byanalyzing the context of the audio stream 302. For example, thedigitized audio stream 314 may be converted to the text stream 324 atmodule 320 and the processor 318 may utilize a natural languageprocessing to analyze the text within the text stream 324 to determinethe appropriate response based on the context of the audio stream 302.

The text stream 324 includes text to determine the appropriate responsefor the computing device 300. In one embodiment, the text stream 324 isprocessed by the processor to determine the appropriate response torender to the user of the computing device 300 on the output device 328.In another embodiment, the text stream 324 is processed by the server326 to determine the appropriate response which is transmitted to thecomputing device 300. In this embodiment, the response is sent from theserver 326 to the computing device 300. In a further embodiment, thecomputing device 300 renders the response to the user of the computingdevice 300. For example, the text stream 324 may include text thatdiscusses sending a text message to mom. Thus, the text within the textstream 324 dictates for the computing device 300 to respond by composinga text message to mom.

The server 326 provides services across a network and may include, forexample, a web server, a network server, a Local Area Network (LAN)server, a file server, or any other computing device suitable to processthe text stream 324 to transmit the response to the computing device300.

The output device 328 renders the response as determined from the textwithin the text stream 324 to the user of the computing device 300.Embodiments of the output device 328 include a display device, a screen,or a speaker to render the response to a user of the computing device300. In keeping with the text message to mom example, the user of thecomputing device 300 may have a display that shows the text messagebeing composed to mom and/or speaker to communicate to the user the textmessage.

Turning now to FIG. 4 , a flowchart of an example method performed on acomputing device to receive an audio stream and determine a response.Although FIG. 4 is described as being performed on computing device 100as in FIG. 1 , it may also be executed on other suitable components aswill be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, FIG. 4 may beimplemented in the form of executable instructions on a machine readablestorage medium such as memory 112.

At operation 402, the computing device operating in conjunction with alow power integrated circuit receives an audio stream. In oneembodiment, the audio stream is of a predetermined amount of time. Forexample, the audio stream may be a few seconds or milliseconds. In thisembodiment, the computing device may continuously monitor audio. Infurther embodiments, the audio stream includes at least one of a speechfrom a user or audio from the other computing device.

At operation 404, the low power integrated circuit operating inconjunction with the computing device digitizes the audio streamreceived at operation 402 to produce a digitized audio stream.Embodiments of operation 404 include the use of an analog to digitalconverter (ADC), digital conversion device, instruction, firmware,and/or software operating in conjunction with the low power integratedcircuit. Embodiments of operation 404 include transmitting the digitizedaudio stream to a memory. Further embodiments of 404 include compressingthe audio stream received at operation 402, while another embodiment of404 includes compressing the digitized audio stream.

At operation 406, the digitized audio stream produced at operation 404is stored in the memory. Embodiments of operation 406 include the memorystoring and/or maintaining the digitized audio stream. In anotherembodiment of operation 406, the audio stream received during thepredetermined amount of time at operation 402 is digitized at operation404, thus when another audio stream is received at operation 402 anddigitized at operation 404, this current digitized audio stream replacesthe prior digitized audio stream. In this embodiment, the memorymaintains the stored digitized audio stream received during thepredetermined period of time prior to the current time.

At operation 408, the low power integrated circuit analyzes thedigitized audio stream produced at operation 404. Embodiments ofoperation 408 include processing the digitized audio stream while otherembodiments include comparing the digitized audio stream to a keyword.In these embodiments of operation 408, the low power integrated circuitprocesses the digitized audio stream for the keyword. Upon recognitionof the keyword within the digitized audio stream, the method moves tooperation 410 to transmit a signal. In a further embodiment, if the lowpower integrated circuit does not recognize the keyword within thedigitized audio stream, the method returns to operation 402. Yet, in afurther embodiment includes comparing the digitized audio stream to ananalog or digital representation that indicates the user of thecomputing device desires a response by the computing device. In yet afurther embodiment, operations 402, 404, 406, and 408 occur in parallel.For example, if the computing device analyzes the digitized audio streamat 408, the integrated circuit continues receiving audio streams atoperation 402, digitizing, and storing the audio stream at operations404 and 406.

At operation 410, the low power integrated circuit transmits the signalto the processor to increase power. Specifically, upon recognition ofthe keyword within the digitized audio stream, the low power integratedcircuit transmits a signal to the processor to increase power. In anembodiment of operation 410, the processor increases power or electricalenergy delivered to the processor and/or the computing device.

At operation 412, the processor obtains the stored digitized audiostream from the memory at operation 406. In one embodiment of operation412, the memory transmits the digitized audio stream to the processor,while in another embodiment of operation 412, the processor retrievesthe digitized audio stream from the memory.

At operation 414, the processor converts the digitized audio streamobtained at operation 412 to a text stream. After converting thedigitized audio stream to the text stream, the processor analyzes thetext within the text stream to determine the appropriate response.Embodiments of operation 414 include using speech to text (STT), voiceto text, digital to text, or other type of text conversion. A furtherembodiment of operation 414 includes using a natural language processingafter conversion to the text stream. In this embodiment, the computingdevice processes the text within the text stream to determine anappropriate response based on the context of the audio stream receivedat operation 402. For example, once detecting the keyword within thedigitized audio stream at 408, the processor obtains at operation 412,and the digitized audio stream is converted to the text stream atoperation 414. In a further example, the audio stream may include aconversation regarding directions between two locations, thus once thisdigitized audio stream is converted at operation 412 to the text stream,—the processor can determine the appropriate response by analyzing thetext within the text stream.

At operation 416, the processor determines the response based on thetext stream produced at operation 414. Embodiments of the responseinclude performing a web search, dialing a phone number, opening anapplication, recording text, streaming media, composing a text message,listing directions, or speaking directions. In one embodiment, the textwithin the text stream dictates the appropriate response for theprocessor. In a further embodiment, the response is rendered to a userof the computing device. For example, the text stream may include speechinquiring how to reach China and as such directions to China would bethe appropriate response. Additionally, in this example, a map displaylisting and/or speaking directions to China may be included.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , a flowchart of an example method performed ona computing device to compress a digitized audio stream and render aresponse to a user of the computing device. Although FIG. 5 is describedas being performed on computing device 300 as above in FIG. 3 , it mayalso be executed on other suitable components as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. For example, FIG. 5 may be implemented in theform of executable instructions on a machine readable storage mediumsuch as memory 312.

At operation 502, the computing device compresses a digitized audiostream. In one embodiment, operation 502 is performed in conjunctionwith operation 404 prior to operation 406 in FIG. 4 . For example, oncehaving digitized the received audio stream, a low power integratedcircuit operation in conjunction with the computing device may compressthe digitized audio stream to reduce the data byte size of the stream.In this example, the compression of the digitized audio stream occursprior to being stored in a memory at operation 406. In a furtherembodiment, operation 502 is performed prior to receiving the digitizedaudio stream at operation 412 in FIG. 4 . For example, the processor mayperform operation 502 to compress the digitized audio stream from thememory while in another example, the memory may compress the digitizedaudio stream prior to the processor obtaining the digitized audiostream. In yet a further embodiment of operation 502, the compresseddigitized audio stream is analyzed to recognize a keyword such as atstep 408 in FIG. 4 .

At operation 504, the computing device renders a response to the user ofthe computing device. Embodiments of operation 504 include occurringduring or after operation 416 in FIG. 4 . For example, once theprocessor determines the appropriate response, this response may berendered to the user of the computing device. In a further embodiment,the response may be rendered to the user on an output device, such as adisplay screen or speaker, operating in conjunction with the computingdevice. For example, when the user discusses the difference between ashrimp and prawn, the processor may launch a web search application,thus performing the web search of difference between the shrimp andprawn. The performed web search may be rendered on the display device ofthe computing device to the user. In a further example, the computingdevice audibly recites the differences between the shrimp and prawnthrough a speaker to the user. In these embodiments, the computingdevice operates with an audio stream to determine a response rather thanthe user instructing the computing device.

The embodiments described in detail herein relate to digitizing an audiostream to detect a keyword and based upon recognition of the keywordwithin the digitized audio stream, transmitting a signal to a processorto increase power and further analyze the digitized audio stream todetermine a response. In this manner, example embodiments save a usertime by preventing repetitive audio instructions to a computing device,while reducing power consumption of the computing device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computing device for processing audioinformation, comprising: a low power integrated circuit; a memorycoupled to the low power integrated circuit; and a processor coupled tothe low power integrated circuit and the memory, wherein the computingdevice, when operating the processor in an increased power usage state,is configured to consume more power than when using the low powerintegrated circuit with the processor operating in a decreased powerusage state; wherein the low power integrated circuit is configured to:digitize an audio stream received by the computing device; store thedigitized audio stream in the memory; analyze a first portion of thestored digitized audio stream to recognize a keyword; and uponrecognition of the keyword, induce the processor of the computing deviceto enter the increased power usage state; and wherein the processor, inthe increased power usage state, is configured to: obtain, from thememory, a second portion of the stored digitized audio stream; convertthe second portion of the stored digitized audio stream to a textstream; and determine, based on the text stream, a response of thecomputing device to at least the second portion of the stored digitizedaudio stream.
 2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processoris configured to analyze the text stream to determine the response. 3.The computing device of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured touse natural language processing to analyze text within the text streamto determine the response based on context of the audio stream.
 4. Thecomputing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured totransmit the text stream to a server.
 5. The computing device of claim1, wherein the processor is configured to output the response forrendering by an output device.
 6. The computing device of claim 5,further comprising at least one of a display configured to display theresponse or at least one speaker configured to output the response. 7.The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured toobtain the second portion of the stored digitized audio stream from thememory in response to entering the increased power usage state.
 8. Thecomputing device of claim 7, wherein the first portion and the secondportion are different portions of the stored digitized audio stream. 9.The computing device of claim 1, wherein the low power integratedcircuit is configured to continuously monitor the audio stream.
 10. Thecomputing device of claim 1, wherein the low power integrated circuit isconfigured as a first-in-first-out buffer.
 11. The computing device ofclaim 1, wherein the second portion is received by the computing devicebefore the first portion is received.
 12. The computing device of claim11, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain, from the memory, thefirst portion and the second portion of the stored digitized audiostream.
 13. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising at leastone microphone configured to receive the audio stream.
 14. A method ofprocessing audio information, the method comprising: digitizing, by alow power integrated circuit of a computing device, an audio streamreceived by the computing device; storing the digitized audio stream ina memory of the computing device; analyzing, by the low power integratedcircuit, a first portion of the stored digitized audio stream torecognize a keyword; upon recognition of the keyword, inducing, by thelow power integrated circuit, a processor of the computing device toenter an increased power usage state, wherein the computing device, whenoperating the processor in the increased power usage state, isconfigured to consume more power than when using the low powerintegrated circuit with the processor operating in a decreased powerusage state; obtaining, by the processor in the increased power usagestate, a second portion of the stored digitized audio stream from thememory; converting, by the processor in the increased power usage state,the second portion of the stored digitized audio stream to a textstream; and determining, by the processor in the increased power usagestate based on the text stream, a response of the computing device to atleast the second portion of the stored digitized audio stream.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: analyzing, by the processor inthe increased power usage state, the text stream to determine theresponse.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: analyzing, bythe processor in the increased power usage state using natural languageprocessing, text within the text stream to determine the response basedon context of the audio stream.
 17. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: transmitting the text stream to a server.
 18. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising: outputting, by the processor in theincreased power usage state, the response for rendering by an outputdevice.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising at least one of:displaying the response using a display; or outputting the responseusing at least one speaker.
 20. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the processor in the increased power usagestate, the second portion of the stored digitized audio stream from thememory in response to entering the increased power usage state.
 21. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the first portion and the second portion aredifferent portions of the stored digitized audio stream.
 22. The methodof claim 14, further comprising: continuously monitoring, by the lowpower integrated circuit, the audio stream.
 23. The method of claim 14,wherein the low power integrated circuit is configured as afirst-in-first-out buffer.
 24. The method of claim 14, wherein thesecond portion is received by the computing device before the firstportion is received.
 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:obtaining, by the processor in the increased power usage state, thefirst portion and the second portion of the stored digitized audiostream from the memory.
 26. The method of claim 14, further comprising:receiving the audio stream using a microphone of the computing device.